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B. L. ST'OWE. AUTOMATIC CAR BRAKE.

Patented Feb. 13

INVENTOR N. PnElla Phulo'Lithagnphtr. Wahinlhn. D. C.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2..

- B L. STOWE;

AUTOMATIC GAR'BRAKE.

No. 272,097. Patented Feb. 13,1883.

WITNESSES 3 IN VENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN L. STOWE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO J. VAN D. REED,

. OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,097, dated February 13, 1883.

' Application filed January 23, 1882. (No model.)

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN L. S'rowE, a citizen of the'United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York,

have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Gar-Brakes, of which the following is a specification.

' My invention relates to improvementsin that class of brakes which are made continu- 1o ous in their character by means of a connectin its operationof that of any other car; but

' the two forms of brake have otherwise many features which are similar in principle, although of somewhat different forms of constrnction.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a.

part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of so much of a car of a usual construction as is necessary to illustrate my invention, the car-wheels upon one side and a portion of the truck-frame being removed to expose the brake mechanism to view. Fig. 2 is a plan of the car-truck with my improved brake mechanism attached thereto. Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are detailed views.

The car-wheels A, the axles B, the truckbolster O, the spring'plank D, the springs D, the brake-beams E, the lovers E, chains and rods E E and E4, center brake-lever, E and all other parts of the car and truck frames, ex-

0 cept the hand-brake shaft F, are of a usual construction.

The hand-brake shaft F, as'shown, is, for convenience of construction, made of a hollow tube, and through its center I pass another 5 shaft pertaining to my improved brake mechanism,and which will be hereinafter described.

The friction-drum G, clamped upon the axle B in a usual manner, the drum G, the automatic brake-shaft G the sleeve a, the' bracket H, the relief-spring I, the journal-bearing K, and the sleeve 11 and chain care similar in principle to those described in the drawings and specifications of the aforesaid Letters Patent which were granted to me, but are'of a somewhat modified form. The bracket H, fastened to the truck-bolster G, has at one end a rigid arm, H, which extends downward and forward, and supports one end of the brake shaft G the sleeve a passing loosely through the arm H, and the end of the said shaft G2 enteriugthe said sleeve a. At the other end of the bracket are two projecting lugs, dd, set a little way apart, and upon a pin, 01, extending through and between them, is hinged a swinging shaft, L, which carries the reliefspring I, the journal-bearing K, and, through the medium of the said bearing K and the sleeve 1)., supports an end of the automatic brake-shaft G The swinging shaft L, while it is free to swing a limited distance at its lower end in a direction lateral with the automatic-brake shaft G and consequently will permit the pulley Gr upon the shaft G to approach or recede from the drum Gr upon the car-axle, has no motion longitudinally with the brake-shaft G Through an opening in the lower end of the swinging shaft L passes a rod, M. which is arranged to limit the amount of swing of the said shaft L, the nuts g, upon the outer end of the rod M, being made adjustable, so that the contact of the drums G and G can be regulated to a certain extent by them.

The stop-piece g,which limits the backward motion of the shaft, may be fixed upon the rod M. This rod M is preferably curved to the radius upon which the lower end of the shaftL swings. The rear end of the rod M is pinned loosely to a piece, M, fastened to the springplank D.

The journal-bearing K slides loosely up or down upon the swinging shaft L, subject to the stress of the reliefspring I, and restricted in the amount of its movement by the draftrod N, which passes through a hole, h, in the swinging shaft L and a longitudinal slot, It, in the journal-bearing K.

A spool, h larger than the hole h through the swinging shaft L, and a spring, i, encircle the draft-rod N to the rear of the swinging shaft L and between the said shaft and a head, i, upon the draft-rod.

The front end of the draft-rod N has an eye, N intowhich hooks an end of another draftrod, N This draft-rod N is joined atits other end to the short arm 0 of a cross-piece, 0, which is fastened upon the lower end of the shaft P, that passes through the center of the hand-brake shaft F. The eye N of thedraftrod N should be as nearly as possible in a direct line with the center-bolt U" of the truck and the brake-shalt P. Enlarged views of this cross-piece O and its shaltP and the hand brake shaft F are shown in detail views, Figs. 3 and 4.

The cross-pieceOconsists of threearms-two long ones, 0 and opposite one another, and the short one, 0 projecting at a right angle from midway between the two longest ones, 0 and 0 This cross-piece is pinned to the lower end of the vertical shaft P. The said shaft passes up longitudinally through the hollow handbrake shaftF, and has a hand-wheel, P, upon its top.

The hand-wheel F of the hand-brake and the hand-brake shaft F itself externally are of a usual construction but the chain Eflwhich is usually fastened to an eyebolt which passes laterally through the hand-brake shaft, is in the present case fastened to an eye, k, in collar 10', which encircles the shalt F, the said collar It being prevented from turning by a setscrew, or by a key.

Both of the arms 0 and O are curved upward, and the one which is nearest the drawtimber R of the car has a large eye, at its end. To the other arm 0 is fastened one end of a chain, S, the other end of the said chain being fastened to the end of a rod, S, which reaches toward the other end of the car.

The automatic brake-chain 0 reaches from the pulley G, to which one of its ends is secured, up over the bolster O and back, and ispassed through a sheave, E hooked onto the handbrake rod E and then forward, and is secured to an eye, T, in the end of a rod, T. The eye T is large enough to prevent a spring, T from slipping over it. The rod passes loosely througha small piece,T bolted onto the bodybolster U. The front end of this rod T is hitween its forks.

A lever, V, which is set at right angles to the rod T, passes behind the sheave T and two stop-pieces, V and V upon the lever V, are set sufficiently far apart, one upon each side of the sheave T to allow the sheave to roll along upon the lever for a limited distancesay about one-third of its length.

To the end of the lever V, nearest the drawtimber it, is fastened loosely one end ofa rod,W, whose other end reaches forward to the large eye 0 upon the arm 0. The eye is made too large to be drawn through the eye 0 but a chain, W which is secured to it, passes forward through the eye 0, and then through a ring, Y, Fig. 4, which is set upon the upper side of the draw-bar hanger Y. This chain W has a hook, W upon its end, by which it can be joined to a like hook upon another car, and it should be of allengt'h sufficient to have its slack taken up when the lost motion allowed by the couplings between the cars is taken up. The hook W is sufficiently large to prohibit its being drawn back through the ring Y upon the draw-bar hanger Y.

A chain. y, is fastened to the outer end of the lever V, which passes forward and around a sheave, 3 attached to the truck-frame or other suitable stationary part of the car, and then back, and is fastened to the rod S.

The partsjust described were described and shown in drawings as being in their normal positions-t. 0., the position in which they will be when the brake is inoperative; but the positions of many of them are changed when the brake is'applied-as, forinstance, the cross 0 may be turned to the left until the eye 0 strikes the draw-bar hanger Y, (see Fig. 4,) when the short arm 0 will have carried the end of the draft-rod N around until it draws in a line a little outside of the center of the cross 0, instead of inside, as previously described. This motion will have also brought the draft-rod N forward sufficiently to have brought the drums G and G together with all the force which the stress of the spring 13 will permit, and the pull of the draft-rod N upon the arm 0 in a line outside of the center will serve to hold the cross in its position with the eye O againstthe draw-bar hanger Y. Either one end or the other of the leverV may be drawn forward or back.

For convenience of coupling the brakechains of two cars together the rod S, at some point before it reaches the end of the car, may be divlded into two branches of rod or chain, S and S Fig. 5, so that they may be run out upon both sides ofthe draw-bar ofacar through eyes upon the hangersirnilar to eyeYupon the hanger Y, already described. Sheaves S or other guides may be used to guide the said rods or chains.

The chain S and hook S are similar to chain W and hook W The method of operation of the mechanism described is as follows: When a train of cars equipped with this brake is beingmade up, the draft-chains W S of each car will be hooked to the contiguous draft-chains of ad joining cars at its front and rear. Then the brake is inoperative the draft-chains are without too much slack, but are not drawn tight. Now, if the train be running and it is desired to apply the brake throughout the train, the engineer is enabled to do it by pulling the chain W of the car nearest the locomotive a few inches, (which he can do by mechanism upon the locomotive which it is not necessarv at this time to describe,) or until the crosspiece-0 is turned around sufficiently to cause the drums G and G to be brought into con tact by means of the short arm 0 and the draftrod N This contact of the drums G and shaft G This chain 0 serves the double purpose of applying the brake by means of its pull upon the sheave E attached to the hand brake rod E, and also of causing the brake mechanism of the next car in the train to be operated by means of its draft upon the rod T and the lever V. The lever V is so arranged that an outward pull upon either chain W or chain 3 separately will cause an inward pull upon the chain S or'chain W not so pulled, the rod T, sheave T spring T and piece T fastened to the body-bolster U. serving as an elastic fulcrum for the lever V. If both chain S and chain W are pulled simultaneously, the spriugT will yield sufficiently toprevent the breakage of lever V or chains YV or S When one ofthe chains or S -as, for instance, chain W is pulled the end of the lever V, to which it is fastened, will be drawn forward, and this willcause the sheave '1 upon the draft-rod T to travel toward the stop V upon the lever V farthest from the end of the lever V, to which said chain W? or its rod W is fastened, so that when the chain 0, rod T, and sheave T pull upon the lever V a greater portion of the power will be received by the chain S than by the chain W The device just described is intended not only to take up any slack that there may be in chain S but also to compensate for the amount of draft upon the chain W consumed in operating the cross 0 and its connecting mechanism.

If, instead of the chain W being pulled from the engine or another car, a brakeman stationed upon this car had turned the cross 0 by means of the hand-wheel B, and brought thedrums G and G into contact, thereby causing the brake to be applied, then the sheave T would have remained in the center ofthelever V, and the pull of the sheave T upon the leverV would have been transmitted in equal proportions to each of the chains W and S and the operation would have caused the brake mechanism of two adjacent cars--one in front and one in the rear of this.

oneto be operated. The lever V may be slightly curved between the stops V and V to facilitate the sheave T in finding the center of the lever V' when there is no unequal strain upon the leverV.

In giving the foregoing description I have supposedthat there was a snfficient pull upon the chain W to turn the cross 0 only far enough to bring the pulleys G and G into contact, with pressure enough to apply the brake Without carrying the draft-rod N beyondthe center of the cross 0 sufficiently to hold the pulleys G and G together when the pull upon the chain W is released. This will always be the case when the chain W is pulled While the cars are coupled together, as the amount of draft upon the chain W will be limited by the hook W of the chain W upon the nextcar striking the ring Yupon the draw-bar hangerY of theisaid next car. If, however, the

couplings between the cars were broken, then the length of pull upon the chain W will no longer be limited, but the chain will be drawn out until the eye 0 of the cross 0 will strike the draw-bar hanger Y, and this will cause the draft-rod N to be carried beyond the center of the cross 0, so that the brake cannot be released when the chain W breaks, as it probably will do; or, rather, the hook W will straighten out, that being made the weakest point in the system. The result will be that the brake will have been applied upon this car, and from the pull given to the chain S to the next car, and so on throughout the train.

Small supporting-chains (not shown) may be employed, if desired,for the better support of the lever V when the chain W is broken.

The brake, under the circumstances above described, will remain applied until released by a brakeman by turning the hand-wheel P and cross 0 backward until the draft-rod N again comes forward or inside of the center of the cross 0. The brake may also be applied and locked at any time by the brakeman through the medium of the hand-wheel P.

It will thus be seen that by the employment, in the manner above described, with the friction-brake-applying mechanism of one car, of draft mechanism adapted to engage or be coupled with the draft mechanism of the adjoining our, and connected with and operated by the said brake-applying mechanism, I am enabled to exert upon the frictionbrake-applying mechanism of the adjoining car a pull or draft which will bringit in turn into action. In theforegoing description I have referred to chains W and b as if their purposes were different; but such is not the case, except as the circumstances vary, as precisely the same results are produced so far as the application of the brake is concerned by a pull upon either end of the car.

The relief-spring I and connectingmechanism operate in this brake substantially the same in principle as the like springs described in the applications for Letters Patent hereinbefore mentioned as having-been granted to me; but more especially like that described inLetters Patent No. 245,557 7, dated August 9, 1881, in which the friction-pulley and relief-spring are described as beingin combination with mechanism arranged and operating to increase the pressure upon the reliefspring proportionately to the increase of load carried by the car; but the parts of the mechanism are somewhat modified in form to adapt it to the different construction oftruck to which it is applied.

When the car is not loaded the adjusting- LuO IIO

nuts g upon the rodM should be set far enough out to permit the drumsG and G to be brought into contact by means of the forward pull upon the draft-rod N as previously described, but near enough so that when the relief-spring I is moderately compressed and the swinging- D compressed, the relief-spring I must be compressed considerably more to allow the shaft G to rise sufliciently to bring the swinging shaft L against the adjustable nuts g, and consequently considerably more brake power will be exerted when the car is loaded than when it is light.

In cases where a train is made up of cars, some of which are provided with this brake, while others adjoining such cars are without it, the arrangement for automatically applying the brake upon the cars that do possessit can be utilized by hooking the hook W onto a platform-post, the brake-staff, or other convenient part of an adjoining car, or by dropping the coupling-pin of said adjoining car through the hook, and a piece of chain' may be hooked onto the end of the chain W and used to supplement the Fength of said chain when it is not otherwise long enough to reach to a suitable fastening place upon the adjoin- .ing car.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination, with the brake-shoes, friction-drums, and intermediate brake-applying mechanism, of draft mechanism arranged and operating, substantially as described, to bring the friction-brake-applying mechanism into action, and compensating-lever mechanism, whereby the pull or draft received by the draft mechanism of one car is caused to be transmitted to the like mechanism of an ad- .joining car without loss of power or motion, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, with the brake-shoes, friction-drums, and intermediate brake-applying mechanism, of the brake-applying shalt P, or its mechanical equivalent, and draft mechanism connected to and adapted to be actuated by said shaft, and arranged and operating substantially as hereinbefore described, so that v\ hen the friction brake mechanism of the car is brought into operation by the shaft P a draft or pull from said mechanism will be transmitted equally to like. brake mechanism upon adjacent cars at both ends of said cars, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the brake-shoes and the friction-drums andintermediary mechanism of draft mechanism arranged and operating in the manner hereinbefore described, so that when a train of cars equipped with this brake is accidentally broken apart the brake shall be automatically applied to the cars upon either side of the point at which the train is broken, and to the other cars connected with each of the said cars, and shall remain so applied until released by a brakeman.

4. The combination of the friction-brake shaft G bracket H, and swinging shaft L with the draft-rods N and N the spring t, and the short arm 0 arranged to bring the friction-pulleys G vand G into operative contact by the turning of the cross 0, and to lock them into such contact when the turning of the cross 0 has exceeded a certain prescribed limit, as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination of the two brake-shafts F and P, one within the other, one pertaining to the hand-brake and the other to the automatic brake, with the friction-drum G upon the axle of the car, the friction-pulley G, and its shaft G substantially as specified.

6. The friction-pulley shaft G relief-spring I, and mechanism, arranged substantially as described, to regulate the power of the brake in proportion to the load carried by thecar, in combination with the draft-rods N and N, and the spring 2', and the cross 0, operated either automatically or by hand.

7. The combination of the friction-brake shaft G the swinging shaft L, the rod M, its adjustable nuts g, with the draft-rods N and N and the spring t, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, substantially as described, of a rod or chain, S, having two branches, S and S with a suitable guide, 8, or guides for conducting the said branches S or S to their respective positions upon opposite sides of the draw-bar of a car.

9. The combination of the chains W and S with the lever V, and the rod T, the sheave T the spring T and the piece T by means of which the outward pull uponone chain W or S is made an inward pull upon the other, but permitting, by means of the yielding fulcrum for the lever V, of a simultaneous outward pull upon both chains without danger of breakage, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination ofthechains W and S the lever V, the stops V and V the rod T, and the sheave T with the friction-brake chain c for compensating for loss of power or motion in the draft of chainoccasioned by slackness of chain or of power consumed in operating the crossO and its connections, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

11. The combination, substantially as described, of the chain W the hook W and the ringY for limiting the inward draft of the chain W as and for the purposes set forth.

12. The combination of the chain W, the large eye on rod'W, and the ring or eyeY for limiting the outward pull of the chain W in such a manner as to cause any breakage resulting from the breaking apart of the train to coupled with draft mechanism on an adjoining 15 car, and operated by said brake applying mechanism to exert upon the draft mechanism ofthe adjoining car a pull or draft which shall bring into action the brake-applying mechanism of that car, substantially as hereinbefore 20 set forth.

' In testimony whereot'I have hereunto set my han d this 19th day of January, 1882.

BENJAMIN L. STO WE.

Witnesses:

FREDK- A. SToWE, ROBERT SGOBIE. 

